JAMMU: In a big catch for J&K police, a self-styled commander of The Resistance Force (TRF) wanted for the killing of three BJP functionaries and a cop in separate attacks in Kulgam last October was arrested in Samba district late Friday, IGP (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said on Saturday.
The capture of Zahoor Ahmad Rather comes a week after the arrest of Lashkar-e-Mustafa commander Hidayatullah Malik in Jammu’s Kunjwani area on February 6. Zahoor, alias Sahil, was part of the group of terrorists that shot dead BJP trio Fida Hussain Yatoo, Umer Rashid Beigh and Umer Ramzan Haja in Kulgam’s YK Pora locality on October 29.
A resident of south Kashmir, Zahoor had moved to Samba to receive an arms consignment from Pakistan and was arrested from his rented accommodation in Bari Brahmana area during a joint raid by Anantnag and Samba Police, said sources. Zahoor had taken arms training in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 2004 following which he infiltrated into India along with five foreign terrorists. He, however, surrendered in 2006, only to pick up arms again last year when he joined the Pakistan-backed TRF, sources said.